Harvey Weinstein expected to surrender to New York police

Former Hollywood producer is reportedly to give himself up over sex misconduct charges

Former Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein is expected to surrender to New York City police on Friday morning on charges of sexual misconduct, the New York Times has reported, citing two unidentified law enforcement officials.

Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Weinstein, declined to comment on the report. The New York Daily News and NBC News also carried the report.

Weinstein was expected to be arrested following a months-long investigation, including by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

More than 70 women have accused the cofounder of the Miramax studio and The Weinstein Company of sexual misconduct, including rape.

The allegations gave rise to the #MeToo movement in which hundreds of women have publicly accused powerful men in business, government and entertainment of misconduct.

He will be charged over allegations by at least one accuser, Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actor who told the New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to give him oral sex in 2004, the New York Daily News reported.

The New York Police Department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to confirm the news reports.

Entertainment industry heavyweights have distanced themselves from Weinstein, once one of Hollywood’s most powerful men, since the accusations became public.

The board of The Weinstein Company fired him and the company filed for bankruptcy in March. He was also expelled in 2017 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Actor Ashley Judd last month sued Weinstein, saying that he cost her a part in the film The Lord of the Rings after she rejected his sexual advances, charges that Weinstein has denied.

Other prominent actors who have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct include Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek. – Reuters